Economy
Nigeria’s Oil Production Rigs Jumps 475% to 46 in July 2025
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said that the nation’s oil production rig has witnessed a 475 per cent rise from eight in 2021 to 46 in July 2025.
The chief executive of the agency, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of a media workshop organised for journalists covering the oil and gas sector.
The rig countis a key metric for measuring vibrancy and performance in the oil and gas industry.
The rig which is a key equipment on which the oil is drilled reveals the level of vibrancy and the activities in the industry.
According to the commission’s data, about 46 active rigs are driving the current oil production in Nigeria.
Mr Komolafe, however, attributed the steady growth in the rig count to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) enactment in 2021, and the commission’s commitment geared towards increasing oil production in the country.
He said the NUPRC through its Project One Million Barrels initiative had scaled up Nigeria’s oil production from one million barrels per day, oscillating around 1.7 million barrels.
The NUPRC boss said the initiative which was inaugurated in October 2024, was expected to increase oil production by one million additional units per year, adding that about 300,000 barrels of oil per day has been achieved since the inauguration of the programme.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for the Executive Orders 40, 41, and 42, which encouraged tax incentives and tax remission as well as redefined the contracting circle and the threshold in the industry.
Mr Komolafe said the 2024 Executive Orders: 40 on fiscal incentives, 41 on local content, and 42 on cost efficiency and contract timelines, had catalysed massive investment inflows.
“These have yielded positive results in terms of the Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) that have attracted huge amounts of money, billions of dollars to the country,” he said.
He urged the media practitioners to report the commission activities professionally in such a way that Nigerians would appreciate and understand its operations.
“As a regulator, we are wrongly perceived, often times people fail to understand the difference between a regulator and an operator.
“As a regulator, our activities put us in a quasi-judicial position, in position to mediate, it is an omnibus job,” he said
He reiterated that the commission will continue to play its role in Nigeria’s oil and gas development.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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